CAD - 718 RST Round 2: Cadours-Laréole

A leader from the first lap

There was no ambiguity about the man at the head of affairs at CAD - 718 RST Round 2: Cadours-Laréole. FMG took command at once and was still there at every subsequent crossing of the line, carrying the lead through all 33 laps of a race which demanded rather more than the final order alone might suggest.

The field was united in the Porsche 718 RS 60 Spyder, and it was FMG who gave the little sports-racer its most authoritative showing. His quickest lap, 1:48.245, underlined a performance built not upon one dramatic stroke but upon sustained command. He reached the flag first after 33 laps, having made the front of the race his own from the beginning.

Close company in the early running

Yet this was not an isolated procession in its formative stages. For the first 20 laps, Nat Stevenson and Flashor remained within five seconds of FMG, the three cars forming a compact leading group whose greatest measured spread was little more than three and a half seconds. It gave the race a taut, unsettled character despite FMG's unbroken place at its head.

Stevenson's challenge lasted through the opening 20 laps before he was classified 14th after completing 20 laps. Flashor remained in the classification in 13th after 24 laps. Their early proximity nevertheless helped set the pace of the afternoon, obliging FMG to keep the standard high rather than merely protect an initial advantage.

Behind them, the shape of the leading order was altered early. Masse had moved ahead of both Kay Jansen and Jordi Sumoy by the end of lap two, and the Frenchman thereafter worked his way into the result that mattered most: third place on the podium.

Celárek and Masse take the honours behind

Adam Celárek completed the full distance in second, preserving a place near the summit of the Championship even as the victory slipped elsewhere. Masse came home third, a solid reward after the early reshuffling, while the podium itself reflected the race's gradual separation from the crowded opening phase.

There was a second, more local contest in the upper order. Willphaizer and Jansen ran closely together over a long middle and late passage, frequently within two seconds from lap 21 through lap 31. Jansen held the advantage at the end of lap 30, but Willphaizer reclaimed fourth place by the next lap. Both completed the distance, Willphaizer fourth and Jansen fifth, their contest giving the final third of the race an interest beyond the settled leadership.

Sumoy also completed all 33 laps to take sixth, while Samu0332 followed in seventh. These were not races decided by a single stroke of fortune, but by the ability to keep the 718 moving cleanly through a full and demanding distance.

The points table is recast

The wider consequence was immediate. This was FMG's first Championship victory, and it carried him past Celárek at the top of the table. FMG now heads the standings on 40 points, level with Valentin Knechtel, while Celárek is third on 37 and Masse fourth on 34.

The result has particular force under the Championship's dropped-score arrangement. FMG's winning Cadours-Laréole score now counts where his earlier result does not, and the change is sufficient to put him first in the official order. Knechtel, classified 12th after 30 laps, remains level on points, so the contest at the head has acquired a new balance rather than a settled conclusion.